Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee Introduces Bill Criminalizing ‘Conspiracy to Commit White Supremacy“

[Alchopwn]

22 hours ago, eight bits said:

I dunno, Al. 

Just get the ACLU onto this.  It won't stand up.  It's too vague a law and potentially infringes on too many other rights.

Edited January 18, 2023 by Alchopwn

[eight bits]

36 minutes ago, Alchopwn said:

Just get the ACLU onto this.  It won't stand up.  It's too vague a law and potentially infringes on too many other rights.

Could be, Al. It's not going to pass the House, so we'll never know.

However, who in 1995 would have thought that anything remotely like the Patriot Act would stand? Who in 1995 would have thought that the United States would have a "Department of Homeland Security" - back then, it would have sounded like Heimatschutz Ministerium from a novel or TV movie where Germany had won WW II. Still does to a libertarian ear.

 

[Golden Duck]

12 hours ago, Tatetopa said:

 I disagree with Frank on this one.  Bureaucrats do their jobs, they get paid.  If a system requires less labor or is easier, they adopt it.  Government regulators or legislators squelch innovation at the behest of their donors.

The people that hate innovation are the entrenched owners, the donor class, because it requires them to reinvest or face obsolescence.   Travel agents, cab companies, oil companies, advertisers all have to adapt or die.  Notice the petroleum giants are calling themselves energy companies now because they had to buy the competition, wind and solar farms, and offshore power development.

Observe that a huge proportion of new paradigm shattering innovations are done by wet behind the ears college age kids.  Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook to name a few. 

Once they become established leaders in a new field, they seek to buy out or stifle competitors and either take or kill the new technologies  those competitors develop.

Hate to bring him up but Zuckerberg is a good example.  A billionaire with money to burn who now has years of experience in the world of innovation and commerce under his belt does not invent another Facebook, he puts billions into META.  Got your $1000 VR headset yet so  you can flirt with cartoon characters?  Me neither.

I feel that a citizen writing to the Minister is a good check against bureaucracy.  The Minister as both a member of the Executive and Legislature is targeted as ultimate responsibility for a government authority and answerable to voters.

A letter to the Minister will filter down to the rank and file public servant that made a decision that may have, rightly or wrongly, upset a voter.  The decision maker will now have to prioritise the Ministerial Response and appease the voter.

A public servant upsetting a voter can have an impact on rewards when time comes for a performance review.

Things like proportional voting and separation of powers blur the lines of who is to blame when a citizen is seeking a remedy for adverse decision from the government. 

[Michelle]

8 hours ago, Golden Duck said:

I feel that a citizen writing to the Minister is a good check against bureaucracy.  The Minister as both a member of the Executive and Legislature is targeted as ultimate responsibility for a government authority and answerable to voters.

Exactly what Minister are you referring to?

[Golden Duck]

4 minutes ago, Michelle said:

Exactly what Minister are you referring to?

A Minister of a Government Department.

I'm essentially saying I don't agree with Herbert.  As a writer of fiction, I consider his view myopic, overly cynical, and the product of a malcontent.

I simply have a different experience from within and without of a slightly different system.

[Michelle]

13 minutes ago, Golden Duck said:

A Minister of a Government Department.

Out of curiosity, what country are you from? We don't have any government officials here who are called minister.

[Golden Duck]

5 minutes ago, Michelle said:

Out of curiosity, what country are you from? We don't have any government officials here who are called minister.

Australia.